Tag Archives: uber and lyft

NYC Uber and Lyft Regulations Are a Union Victory

Taxi Workers Alliance Executive Director Bhairavi Desai says that new regulations for ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft mark the “dawning of a new day for a workforce of 100,000 men and women.” The measures will cap the number of ride-hailing vehicles. Taxi drivers have complained of the hardships—congestion and suppression of wages—in attempting to compete with ride-hailing services. Cab owners, unlike ride-hailing drivers, were forced to purchase medallions valued at up to $1.3 million, putting them deeply into debt.

“Three years ago we lost,” she remarks, noting Uber’s key victories in 2015. “Often times corporations think that once the workers lose, it’s a done deal. The fact that we were able to keep organizing and come back three years later and win is really an important message to these companies that [they] can’t keep underestimating the workers.”